Capture the Flag: Round Three
by Stultus
Summary: The third in a series which was originally supposed to just a be a one shot. Please read Capture the Flag, and Capture the flag: Round Two BEFORE YOUR READ THIS. This is the story of a capture the flag game against the hunters. Rated K


**Ok, sense everyone seemed to want this, here it is! The third and last in this series of one-shots. I am officially out of idea's for capture the flag stories, so unless I am PMed some amazing ideas or something, this IS the last, and I will begin work on something else. Sorry this took so long to write, it didn't come as easily as the first two. PLEASE REVIEW! If it sucked, I want to know. I also want to know if it was good. I want to know what you liked and didn't like. I write PJO fanfics because I want to improve my writing, so reviews are REALLY good. **

**Thanks everyone who reviewed my first two stories! And I do not own PJO. That honor is in the very capable hand of Rick Riordan.  
**

"Thalia, what are you doing here? I asked.

"Well, nice to see you too, Percy. I've been fine, thanks for asking."

"Sorry," I said. I started over. "Hi, Thalia! What's new? How have you been? Killed any cool monsters lately?"

Thalia smiled. "Hey, Percy! I've been good… I've killed more cool monsters than you could even dream of.""Not true," I said. "And besides, you've got, what, thirty other hunters helping you? I'm usually by myself, or maybe with Annabeth. I don't have an army to do my fighting like you do."

"No," Thalia said. "But you've got the stupid Curse of Achilles. Tell me, Percy, what's the fun in fighting if you're invincible? It's almost like cheating.""Well, for one thing," I said. "Invincibility helps you do stuff like cremate the Hunters of Artemis at Capture the Flag.""You stand no chance! We're gonna - " "Okay!" Chiron cut her off. "Now, to ask once again Percy's original question, 'Thalia, what are you doing here?"Thalia sighed. "Artemis is needed on Olympus right now. She's going to be gone for at least a week, maybe more. Longer than she's usually away from the Hunters. So she asked that we come here."

"Why is she needed on Olympus?" Annabeth asked.

"I don't know," Thalia said. "She wouldn't tell me."

"Where are the rest of the Hunters?" I asked.

"Already moving into the Cabin Eight," Thalia said. And you won't need to worry about the hunters burning down any cabins this time. Of course, we're still going to beat you into a quivering pulp at Capture the Flag," she added.

"Speaking of which," Chiron said. "Percy, Annabeth, would you please spread the word that the next Capture the Flag game will be tonight, and will be Campers against Hunters?"We said we would, and Chiron also asked Thalia to tell her hunters the same thing. When we left the Big House, I headed toward the Poseidon cabin. I glanced over at the Artemis Cabin. I could faintly hear classical music coming from inside. Mozart or something. Thalia opened the door and walked in. Within a couple seconds, the classical music stopped. I heard several groans from unhappy hunters, before they were drowned out and replaced by Green Day. I laughed. I figured Thalia was the only Hunter who liked that band. I walked to my cabin, past a few new campers who stared at me like I was Zeus. I guess Conner and Travis Stoll had been telling stories again.

Annabeth and I spread the word about the game. Everyone was excited, hoping we would finally get revenge and beat the Hunters for once. It was decided that I would be the Team Captain for Camp Half-Blood. I had tried to say that I had been the Captain of a team the last two times, and someone else should get a chance, but they wouldn't hear it. I guess it was the whole "invincible leader" thing. There were about thirty Hunters, and around the same number of campers.

After lunch I decided to go down to the sword arena, since there wasn't much else to do. I spent about an hour creaming Ares Campers before I decided I should head back to my cabin and take a nap. A couple of days after I bathed in the River Styx, Chiron had told me that the invulnerability it gave me would also tire me out, make me need to sleep more. At the time, I was to pumped up on adrenalin to realize the was right. But of course he was. I had begun going to bed earlier, sleeping in later, and often taking naps in the day. It was very annoying, really. I had to eat a lot more, too. But, I guess invincibility is worth having to sleep a few extra hours.

"Percy!"

I turned around to see Annabeth jogging towards me. She was wearing her usual Camp Half-Blood T-Shirt and jeans, and she had her curly blond hair pulled back in a pony tale. Annabeth didn't wear make up, but she didn't need it. She was still stunningly beautiful. We had started going out a couple weeks ago, which pretty much made me the luckiest idiot to ever set foot on Camp Half-Blood.

"Hey," I said. "What's up?"

"I've been going over some strategies to beat the Hunters," she said.

"Come up with anything good?" I asked. Of course, she wouldn't have come to tell me about it if she hadn't.

"Yes," she said. "Here's what I think we should do…" She explained to me her plan. Of course it was better than anything _I _could have come up with. And I was actually pretty good with Capture the Flag strategies.

"It's good, except for one thing," I said. "You have me on defense. Don't you think I'd be better as offense?"

She shook her head. "That's what Thalia will be expecting. And, if me and the rest of the offense can't get through, you can come and reinforce us."

Finally I agreed, although offense was always more fun than defense. Annabeth left for archery, and I went to my cabin to take my nap. I fell asleep instantly. I didn't have nearly as many nightmares now that there were no evil Titans planning the downfall of western civilization. Most times when I slept I had no dreams. Every so often, I would actually have a good one.

The rest of the day was uneventful. Unusually, no campers and hunters tried to murder each other. I guess that was thanks to Thalia.

When dinner was over and it was finally time for capture the flag, I decided to strap on armor like everyone else this time. We were playing the hunters, and I figured I needed all the protection I could get. Plus, I was running low on clothes, seeing as every time we played capture the flag the clothes I happened to be wearing were ripped slashed and cut to shreds. And, Annabeth had convinced me I should be defense, which meant I probably would be doing a lot less sprinting. I decided I would also use a shield.

Thalia walked up to me. "Percy, how does it feel to know that Camp Half-Blood is about lose to the Hunters for the fifty-seventh time in a row?""I don't know," I said. "How does it feel that your winning streak is about to come a swift and spectacular end?"Thalia laughed. "Keep thinking that way." She patted me on the shoulder, giving me a shock. It took all my will power not to flinch. Sometimes having a friend who's the daughter of the Lightning God is a bit annoying.

"Thanks, I will," I said. She turned and left.

I looked over at Annabeth. She was talking with Nico about the strategy. The plan was this: Conner and Travis Stoll would be our to flag guards. We got Zeus's fist this time, so that was a little bit of an advantage. Nico and I would be on border patrol. I would use my awesome water powers to keep the Hunters away, and if any managed to get through, I had Nico as backup. Athena, Ares, and Hephaestus cabins were going to form a Phalanx and march right up the middle. Apollo Cabin was going around to the left, while Dionysus and Aphrodite cabins went right. Whoever found the flag first would send a messenger back to tell Nico its location. Then they would attack and distract the guards while Nico shadow traveled behind the flag and took the it. And I would be the reinforcements if the offense needed me. Leave to Annabeth to come up with a complicated plan.

We planted the flag at the top of Zeus's fist and then went our various ways. Nico and I began walking up and down the river.

"Gee," I said. "This is exciting."Nico smiled. "I'm sure we'll get plenty of action." "Yeah, right. I haven't been on border patrol since my first week at Camp Half-Blood. I only saw any fighting at all because I was being used as bate for the Ares Cabin.""Yeah, well -" Whatever Nico was going to say was cut off by seven hunters charging out of the woods. Seven arrows streaked towards us. I deflected one off my shield and slashed four more out of the air. Nico dodged two of them, but the third stuck him in the shoulder and glanced off his black armor. The hunters continued charging full speed toward the river. I smiled. I could always get people like this the first time they played against me. I willed the water to rise, forming a solid wall out of water. The hunters had no time to slow down. They didn't have time to swerve to the side. I could see their eyes widen a spit second before they crashed straight into it. They all landed in a heap, bows and arrows sent spinning out of their hands. One of them grabbed an arrow out of her quiver and reached for her bow. I slammed the wall of water down on them as hard as I could, and then smashed them with a wave. The wave washed away their bows, and some of their arrows. The hunters jumped up and scrambled after their weapons. I started to go after them, but I stopped when I saw another hunter charge out of the woods. It was Thalia.

Thalia ran towards the river. I summoned the water wall like I had before, but she stopped suddenly instead of slamming into it. I felt the air charge. I realized a second to late what was happening. A small bolt of lightning crackled downward, frying the blue horse-hair plume off my helmet and blasting me back twenty feet or more. I lost concentration and the water wall fell. Thalia charged across. As I started to get up, Thalia shot a perfectly aimed arrow at me. It found its way through the slits in my helmet and hit me in the eye before I could blink. If it hadn't been for the Curse of Achilles, it would have killed me. I got up and charged toward Thalia. She fired another arrow and me, but I slashed it away with Riptide. Thalia tapped her bracelet, and it morphed into her bronze shield, Aegis, with the face of a gorgon in the center. I stumbled and slowed down, and Thalia had time to get out her Mace-Canister-spear.

Let me explain something. When Thalia fights, she uses this awesome spear, about ten feet long which expands out of a Mace canister, and ever more scary is her shield, Aegis, which looks like a gorgon's face was pressed right against the soft metal when it was being forged. Even though looking at it won't turn you to stone like looking at the face of a real gorgon, it's still horrible enough to scare the living daylights out of most enemies.

I fought the urge to turn and run from Thalia's shield. I did slow down though, and turn slightly, and Thalia nailed me with her spear, denting my helmet and knocking it off my head. Then she hit me in the shoulder with the shaft of her spear, and slammed me with her shield. I stumbled backwards, and she hit me in the stomach with her spear, knocking me to the ground. She thrust with her spear again, but I blocked with my shield. She hit it so hard that the tip of the spear tore clean through the celestial bronze. She twisted, and yanked the shield from my arm. I started to get up again, but Thalia whacked me in the jaw with the shaft of her spear. She lunged again. I grabbed the spear head, and shoved it backwards. The end of her own spear caught her in the shoulder, and she stumbled away from me. I jumped to my feet, and, gripping Riptide with both hands, swung at her head as hard as I could. She blocked my strike with Aegis at the last second, and made a counter attack at my knees. I side stepped and thrust at her. She parried aside my sword with her spear and tried to slam me with her shield, but I jumped back to avoid it. I felt the air charge again, and I dove to the side to avoid getting fried. I looked around for Nico. Where had he been this whole time? Why hadn't he been fighting? Then I saw him right behind Thalia, sneaking up slowly and quietly. I started to get up. Thalia lunged at me, putting all her weight behind the blow. But before it could hit me, Nico swung his sword and smacked Thalia in the side of the head with the flat of his blade. Thalia went cross-eyed, and crumpled to the ground. Nico looked down at Thalia.

"Sweet dreams," he said.

I laughed. "Come on, lets beat up some more hunters."

We had just walked up and down the river a couple times without seeing any more Hunters when an Apollo camper ran out of the woods.

"Percy! Nico!" he yelled.

"Yeah?" I said.

He crossed the river and stopped in front of us, panting. "Percy, Annabeth said they needed you there as quickly as possible to help with the direct attack. And Nico, we found the flag." He told Nico where the flag was, in a clearing about a mile and a quarter from the creek. Nico stepped into the shadows and disappeared, while I charged into enemy territory with the Apollo camper following close behind me.

When we found them, a group of at least fifteen hunters had the entire Athena and Ares cabins pinned down. The campers were still in their phalanx formation, the front rows forming a wall with their shields to deflect the arrows that were raining down on them. The Apollo campers were spread around the area, taking cover behind trees and rocks, and exchanging arrow fire with the Hunters. The campers weren't making much progress.

I charged toward the hunters. Several of them shot arrows at me, while the rest continued to pound the phalanx. I dodged two, and swatted three more out of the air with my sword. Then I got an idea.

The hunters were in one big group, all within a few feet of each other. I concentrated on the ground beneath them, and felt that familiar tug in my gut. It worked. The ground beneath the hunters exploded with water, and the hunters were sent flying backwards. The campers broke out of the phalanx and charged to hunters. The hunters were surprised, unready, and, some of them, weaponless. They didn't stand a chance.

While the campers finished off that group of hunters, I sprinted off into the woods to help Nico. I knew the flag wouldn't be far, maybe a quarter of a mile from where I was at the most. But I never got there. Before I had run more than a few steps, I saw Nico running towards me with the flag.

"Other way, Percy," he yelled as he ran past me. I turned around and followed him. I knew there were small groups of Hunters still scattered through the forest. Once, an arrow shot out of nowhere and glanced of Nico's helmet, be he kept going. We were in site of the creek, when I saw someone standing directly in our path. It was Thalia, and she didn't look happy.

I felt the air charge, and a split second later, there was a blinding flash and the ground in front of us exploded. Nico and I were blaster backwards. I got to my feet and saw a smocking crater where the lightning had struck. The air charged again, but I wasn't going to let us get fried. Thalia was standing about fifty feet from the creek, and I willed a huge wave to rise up and slam her in the back. I ran at her and slashed, but she hit her bracelet at the last second, and it morphed into her shield, Aegis, just in time to block my strike. I lunged, but Thalia knocked my sword aside with her spear. Nico was still getting up. I guess that not being invincible, he was hurt a lot more than I was. Thalia thrust with her spear. I parried with my sword, but then she smacked me with her shield, knocking me backwards. Thalia stood over me and start to thrust downward. But before her spear could it me, I grabbed it and pushed backwards as hard as could. Thalia went staggering backwards. I started to get up, but then I noticed something. Next to me lay a silvery grey banner, the flag. Nico must have dropped it. I picked it up and charged towards to river. I felt the air charge again as Thalia tried to stop me, but it was to late. I dove across the river, and the banner changed colors until it was green, with a blue trident in the middle.

The rest of the campers and hunters flooded into the area. The campers were all grinning and cheering. The hunters looked horrified. Chiron galloped up.

"The campers win!" he announced. "Finally," I hear him add under his breath. I could tell he was trying hard not to smile.

"Well, Thalia, you can't win them all," I said. The look she shot me was pure evil, made even worse by the fact that she still had her shield in front of her.

"Uh, Percy?" Annabeth said. "You might want to watch your back while Thalia's still here."

"Ah, come on, Annabeth," I said. "Thalia wouldn't be a sore loser." I glanced at Thalia nervously. "Right, Thalia?"

"Of course not," she said. She held her hand out. "Good game, Percy." Like an idiot, I shook her hand and got blasted by a few thousand volts of electricity.

"Aaagh!" I pulled my hand back as quickly as I could.

"Sorry," she said, smiling. She didn't look very sorry at all. I looked at Annabeth and Nico. They were both trying not to laugh.

"What?" I asked. "Your hair is smoking," said Annabeth.

**So, how was it? As I said, I was running low on ideas, so I'm not sure if its as good as the other two. It is longer than the second one though. **

**Also, please leave in your review what kind of story you want me to write next. I have some ideas, but I'd like to here what kind of story everyone wants. :)  
**


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